“I might inform the council how bad it is and maybe the people responsible will have to shovel up or pay up.”

Others suggested tough measures to crack down on the problem.

One Sheffield mum wrote: “I suggest a three-strike rule, after which the culprit is banned from keeping animals for life.

“People that let their dog foul without picking it up are scum. My inquisitive toddler has nearly picked it up before. Countless times I have run the pushchair through it, and have to take out a tissue and wipe down the wheels before I can put it in the car. It is absolutely vile.”

Another reader wrote: “Every dog should be registered and its DNA taken, then any muck can be analysed for the guilty owner.”

The idea has been used in Germany, Israel and the USA, and mooted on the Isle of Wight.